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PubMed2004

The urological personality: is it unique?

OBJECTIVES: To develop a preliminary characterization of the urological personality. METHODS: Thirty-four urology residents (29 male) from all eleven Canadian training programs anonymously completed the Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R(c)), a commercially available validated personality assessment tool in which participants agree or disagree with a compilation of 240 statements. A score is generated in each of five character traits according to the five factor theory of personality: extraversion (E), openness (O), conscientiousness (C), agreeableness (A) and neuroticism (N). The group mean on each scale was compared to the normative mean for the general adult population using one-sample, two-tailed t tests. RESULTS: Urology residents scored significantly higher than the general population on three of the five personality factors: extraversion (E) (p<.001), openness (O) (p<.02) and conscientiousness (C) (p<.05). There was no significant difference from norms in agreeableness (A) or neuroticism (N). CONCLUSIONS: The high scores in 'extraversion' reflect the social, warm, active and talkative nature of urology residents. As well, urology residents tend to be willing to entertain new ideas and are purposeful and determined based on their high scores on 'openness' and 'conscientiousness' respectively. Canadian urology residents possess a distinct personality in comparison to the general population. These provocative findings should be interpreted with caution. If confirmed on a wider basis, the data may be helpful in career counseling and resident selection. Future studies examining differences between the urological personality and other surgical subspecialties may further refine applications of the data.

Female↗
PubMed1996

[A study on AIDS-related knowledge, attitude and behavior in servicemen in China].

AIDS-related knowledge, attitude and behavior were studied in 1,058 servicemen in China with self-administered and anonymous questionnaires. Results showed 76.7% to 89.5% of the servicemen surveyed knew correctly the risk of AIDS and its route of transmission, but only 8.5% of them answered all the questions listed in the questionnaire correctly. Source of their knowledge about AIDS was mainly from newspapers, magazines and extracurricular books. Most of them thought they could have very little, or no chance to contract the illness. There were 74.0% of the servicemen eager to get knowledge about AIDS and 83.2% would like to accept relevant testing. And, 80.2% of them answered that they could put their behavior under control, or change their unhealthy one to prevent from the illness. It indicated that comprehensive and correct publicity and education could play an active role in the prevention of HIV infection.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1998

Rapid, efficient method for multiplex amplification from filter paper.

Guthrie cards derived from the New York State Newborn Screening Program were utilized to develop a rapid, economical method for amplifying multiple genes to detect mutations that impact public health. These specimens are untraceable to the donor because identifiers are removed and discarded; therefore, these pilot studies were carried out anonymously. The sample preparation requires minimal manipulation, is amenable to automation, and is useful in laboratories which routinely process large numbers of samples, such as those in typical newborn screening laboratories. Multiple gene fragments may be amplified from a 1 mm punch which contains less than 1 microl of whole blood. The blood spots used in these studies contain sufficient material for up to 25 amplification reactions which multiplex at least four different gene fragments each. Since sufficient material remains on the card after the routine testing is complete, this simple assay can greatly expand the efficacy of current newborn screening programs by permitting DNA diagnosis of some disorders when indicated, particularly those in which genotype-phenotype correlations are useful. In addition to newborn screening specimens, this method is also applicable to whole blood from adults after phlebotomy and from lymphoblastoid cell lines. Use of filter paper for DNA analysis is particularly useful for shipped specimens or for population studies whose subjects are refractory to phlebotomy.

Alleles↗
PubMed1990

Operating practices of and precautions taken by orthopaedic surgeons to avoid infection with HIV and hepatitis B virus during surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the precautions being taken by orthopaedic surgeons to avoid becoming infected with HIV or hepatitis B virus by their patients during surgery. DESIGN: Pilot study of 50 surgeons selected at random followed by a postal questionnaire completed anonymously. SUBJECTS: All 1220 fellows and associates of the British Orthopaedic Association working in the United Kingdom. RESULTS: 800 (67%) Questionnaires were returned. 511 Surgeons has sustained a needlestick injury or had got body fluid in their eye within the past month despite 430 regularly wearing eye protection during major surgery. Seven had definitely and four possibly been infected with hepatitis B virus by a patient while operating, and 582 had been immunised against hepatitis B. Only 75 surgeons were satisfied with the present guidelines on testing patients for HIV antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: Although most surgeons who replied took some precautions when operating, most still exposed themselves to considerable risk from patients not known to be infected with HIV or hepatitis B virus.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Views of Irish general practitioners on screening for cervical cancer.

BACKGROUND: A national cervical screening programme is being established in Ireland and there is little information on the level of resources required. AIMS: To obtain information on attitudes of Irish general practitioners (GPs) and on the resources needed by them in relation to participation in the programme. METHODS: An anonymous postal questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 600 GPs, approximately 25% of the total population of GPs in Ireland. RESULTS: A response rate of 87.5% was obtained. The majority (88%) would participate in a national programme. Those who would not were more likely to be in single-handed practice, aged over 44 years, have no ancillary staff, no computer and be in rural practice. GPs were in favour of a special fee for smear taking, a training programme and management guidelines on the test report. They did not want bonus payments for achieving targets or the report to be sent to the client as well as the doctor. CONCLUSION: GPs will support a national cervical screening programme but a number of organisational issues must be discussed with them to ensure a successful programme.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

How (not) to protect genomic data privacy in a distributed network: using trail re-identification to evaluate and design anonymity protection systems.

The increasing integration of patient-specific genomic data into clinical practice and research raises serious privacy concerns. Various systems have been proposed that protect privacy by removing or encrypting explicitly identifying information, such as name or social security number, into pseudonyms. Though these systems claim to protect identity from being disclosed, they lack formal proofs. In this paper, we study the erosion of privacy when genomic data, either pseudonymous or data believed to be anonymous, are released into a distributed healthcare environment. Several algorithms are introduced, collectively called RE-Identification of Data In Trails (REIDIT), which link genomic data to named individuals in publicly available records by leveraging unique features in patient-location visit patterns. Algorithmic proofs of re-identification are developed and we demonstrate, with experiments on real-world data, that susceptibility to re-identification is neither trivial nor the result of bizarre isolated occurrences. We propose that such techniques can be applied as system tests of privacy protection capabilities.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1995

Teenagers at risk of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. Results from seroprevalence surveys in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and risk factors for HIV-1 infection among teenagers attending selected clinics. DESIGN: Anonymous, cross-sectional serosurveys conducted in 130 clinics in 24 cities. SETTINGS: Adolescent medicine clinics, sexually transmitted disease clinics, clinics in juvenile detention and correctional facilities, and homeless and runaway youth centers. PATIENTS: Teenagers in whom serum samples were drawn as part of routine medical services. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of HIV-1 infection and reported HIV risk behaviors. RESULTS: From January 1, 1990 through December 31, 1992, serum specimens were collected from 79,802 teenagers; 591 of these specimens were positive for HIV-1 antibody. Seropositive test results were found in all 24 cities surveyed, and in 95 (73%) of the 130 clinics surveyed. The median clinic-specific prevalence was 0.2% (range, 0% to 1.4%) in 22 adolescent medicine clinics, 0.3% (range, 0% to 6.8%) in 33 correctional facilities, 0.5% (range, 0% to 3.5%) in 70 sexually transmitted disease clinics, and 1.1% (range, 0% to 4.1%) in five homeless youth centers. Rates exceeded 1% in 37 sites (28%). Excluding sites with many men reporting sex with men, rates in women were similar or somewhat higher than rates in men. Rates were highest among young men reporting sex with men, with clinic rates ranging from 16% to 17% in two homeless youth sites and 13% to 17% in two sexually transmitted disease clinics. Most teenagers with risk information reported heterosexual activity as their only potential risk exposure to HIV-1. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence of HIV was generally low but varied by type of clinic and geographic area. The highest rates were observed among young women and gay men in some settings, suggesting that targeted prevention messages are needed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Study of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from wheat expressed sequence tags (ESTs).

The increasing availability of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) in wheat ( Triticum aestivum) and related cereals provides a valuable resource of non-anonymous DNA molecular markers. We examined 170,746 wheat ESTs from the public (International Triticeae EST Cooperative) and Génoplante databases, previously clustered in contigs, for the presence of di- to hexanucleotide simple sequence repeats (SSRs). Analysis of 46,510 contigs identified 3,530 SSRs, which represented 7.5% of the total number of contigs. Only 74% of the sequences allowed primer pairs to be designed, 70% led to an amplification product, mainly of a high quality (68%), and 53% exhibited polymorphism for at least one cultivar among the eight tested. Even though dinucleotide SSRs were less represented than trinucleotide SSRs (15.5% versus 66.5%, respectively), the former showed a much higher polymorphism level (83% versus 46%). The effect of the number and type of repeats is also discussed. The development of new EST-SSRs markers will have important implications for the genetic analysis and exploitation of the genetic resources of wheat and related species and will provide a more direct estimate of functional diversity.

Breeding↗
PubMed2006

GIST: particular aspects related to cell cultures, xenografts, and cytogenetics.

In less than half a decade, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) have emerged from historical anonymity to become a model of kinase-targeted therapies. Approximately 80% to 85% of GISTs harbor activating mutations of the KIT or PDGFRA tyrosine kinase genes, and such mutations have predictive and prognostic value. In this regard, the in vitro and in vivo models have provided valuable tools for understanding the molecular pathology of this interesting neoplasm. This review charts particular aspects in the field of cell cultures and tumor xenografts in nude mice in GIST and their implication in the establishment of appropriate models for discovering and testing therapy. The cytogenetic features of these tumors are also discussed. Classic karyotyping, loss of heterozygosity, fluorescent in situ hybridization, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), and CGH-array analyses have shown that chromosomal numerical abnormalities and loss of genetic material at chromosomes 1p, 9p, 14q, and 22q are significantly associated with GIST malignancy and response to treatment. Furthermore, these regions constitute "hot" areas for finding candidate genes involved in the pathogenesis of GISTs. A deeper knowledge of these genetic aspects of GIST will provide a better understanding of this neoplasm that could translate into clinical practice.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

An evaluation of the use of dried blood spots from newborn screening for monitoring the prevalence of cocaine use among childbearing women.

A collaborative March of Dimes study was designed to examine the utility of dried blood spot (DBS) materials routinely collected from newborns as a source for monitoring cocaine exposure and to assess the prevalence of cocaine use among childbearing women in Georgia. We used a modified urinary radioimmunoassay (RIA) to anonymously detect the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine (BE) in DBSs. Extensive efforts were undertaken to assure absolute nonlinkage of BE data to any individual. The positive results found by RIA were confirmed by a mass spectrometry (MS) method specifically developed to detect BE in DBSs. BE was measured in 23,141 DBSs collected during 2 months of routine newborn screening in Georgia. A good correlation was observed for RIA results versus MS results (r2 = 0.97). The estimated minimal statewide BE prevalence was 4.8 per 1000 childbearing women. We demonstrated that immunoassay testing for cocaine without confirmatory testing can yield falsely elevated prevalence rates. When proper confirmatory testing is done, DBSs are a valuable source for population-based monitoring of substance abuse among childbearing women.

Blood Specimen Collection↗
PubMed2006

Relapse-onset factors in Project MATCH: the Relapse Questionnaire.

Previously, items on the relapse-onset section of the Relapse Questionnaire have been grouped together based on face validity. In the present article, an empirical scoring method for this measure is derived through a factor analysis of Project MATCH data. Three factors replicate the factor solutions of other measures of alcohol relapse onset and relapse risk. The three factors found in this study include the following: Negative Affect/Family Influences, Craving/Cued, and Social Pressure. This study also replicates earlier findings that social pressure relapses are most likely to repeat, and that negative affect relapses are more severe. Earlier studies typing relapses have hypothesized that this may be one method to detect treatment effects that might otherwise be missed if relapses are not differentiated and only generic measures (such as time to first drink) are used. This hypothesis is tested in the present article, and Motivational Enhancement Therapy is revealed to offer protection against social pressure relapses that is less than those offered by Cognitive-Behavioral Coping Skills Therapy or Twelve-Step Facilitation Therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Do attitudes toward disclosure in donor oocyte recipients predict the use of anonymous versus directed donation?

OBJECTIVE: To compare the demographic and psychological characteristics of oocyte recipients and to determine whether the issue of disclosure about the use of a donor is a correlate of the decision to use an anonymous or directed donor. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: University teaching hospital. PATIENT(S): Ninety consecutive recipients of donated oocytes (64 of whom used anonymous donors and 26 of whom used directed donors). INTERVENTION(S): Pretreatment psychosocial evaluation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Recipient opinions and attitudes regarding the choice of donor type and disclosure to others as determined through a semistructured interview. RESULT(S): There were no statistically significant differences with regard to demographic characteristics between recipients who used anonymous and directed donors. There were statistically significant differences between the groups with regard to the issue of disclosure. Recipients who used directed donors were more likely to have told others about using an oocyte donor and were more likely to indicate that they intended to inform the child about the nature of his or her conception. CONCLUSION(S): Oocyte recipients who use known donors differ significantly from those who use anonymous donors with regard to the issue of disclosure to others. Further studies are needed to determine the causal direction of this relation.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

An Internet-ready database for prospective randomized clinical trials of high-dose-rate brachytherapy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

PURPOSE: To demonstrate a new interactive Internet-ready database for prospective clinical trials in high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for prostate cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: An Internet-ready database was created that allows common data acquisition and statistical analysis. Patient anonymity and confidentiality are preserved. These data forms include all common elements found from a survey of the databases. The forms allow the user to view patient data in a view-only or edit mode. Eight linked forms document patient data before and after receiving HDR therapy. The pretreatment forms are divided into four categories: staging, comorbid diseases, external beam radiotherapy data, and signs and symptoms. The posttreatment forms separate data by HDR implant information, HDR medications, posttreatment signs and symptoms, and follow-up data. The forms were tested for clinical usefulness. CONCLUSION: This Internet-based database enables the user to record and later analyze all relevant medical data and may become a reliable instrument for the follow-up of patients and evaluation of treatment results.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2006

Gene expression profiles in fathead minnow exposed to 2,4-DNT: correlation with toxicity in mammals.

Toxicogenomics, the genome-wide analysis of gene expression to study the effect of toxicants, has great potential for use in environmental toxicology. Applied to standard test organisms, it has possible applications in aquatic toxicology as a sensitive monitoring tool to detect the presence of contaminants while providing information on the mechanisms of action of these pollutants. We describe the use of a complementary DNA (cDNA) microarray of the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) a standard sentinel organism in aquatic toxicology, to better understand the mechanisms of toxicity of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT) which is released in the environment through military and industrial use. We have constructed a fathead minnow microarray containing 5000 randomly picked anonymous cDNAs from a whole fish cDNA library. Expression profiles were analyzed in fish exposed to 2,4-DNT for 10 days at three concentrations (11, 22, and 44 microM, respectively) below the measured median lethal concentration (58 microM). Sequence analysis of cDNAs corresponding to differentially expressed genes affected by exposure revealed that lipid metabolism and oxygen transport genes were prominently affected in a dose-specific manner. We measured liver lipids and demonstrate that lipid metabolism is indeed perturbed following exposure. These observations correlate well with available toxicological data on 2,4-DNT. We present possible modes of action of 2,4-DNT toxicity and suggest that fathead minnow cDNA microarrays can be useful to identify mechanisms of toxicity in fish and as a predictive tool for toxicity in mammals.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

[Hospital employees' knowledge about HIV disease. A study from 2 provincial hospitals].

The knowledge of and attitudes to HIV infection were investigated by means of questionnaires during the period 1.10.1988 to 30.4.1989 in two small Danish Hospitals. Two hundred and thirty two nurses, 147 nursing aids, 44 doctors, 25 laboratory workers and 22 midwives took part in the investigation. The overall response was 99% of the staff contacted. The questionnaires were anonymous and were completed immediately and without use of any sources of information. Poor knowledge was revealed concerning symptoms, sources of infection, precautions to avoid infection, high-risk groups and patients duty to provide information. In fact, none of the groups exceeded 66% correct answers on these subjects. A total of 70% of the whole group had been in contact with patients, whom they suspected to be HIV-positive. Every third individual had felt insecure regarding HIV at work. Incidents at work had caused 18 employees to be tested for HIV. Only about half had been instructed about HIV. A total of 73% expressed needs for further instruction about the disease. The investigation shows difference between the staff opinion of possible claims on the patients about tests and to the policy of the Danish Department of Health concerning voluntary testing.

Denmark↗
PubMed1997

[Spreadsheets of a conventional application software for calculation of plausibility of paternity: application to parentage testing with highly polymorphic markers in deceased party].

We designed a spreadsheet package for the computation of plausibility of paternity, that can cope with highly polymorphic genetic markers and cases of deceased parties. The application program is Microsoft EXCEL, which is one of the best-selling spreadsheet software running on both Microsoft Windows and Macintosh OS. Komatsu's formula for paternity testing was mainly employed in the spreadsheet package. Probability of the mother-child-alleged father combination was calculated using "IF" function to compare the members' genotypes, whereas "VLOOKUP (or HLOOKUP)" function was employed to refer to a list of genes and their frequencies. In case of a phenotype consisting of several genotypes, the list of phenotypes versus genotypes was also given, to which the function referred. To extend these spreadsheets available for the test of deceased party, additional sheets were also created to estimate frequencies of alleged father's possible genotypes. These probabilities were calculated on the basis of types of his parents and siblings, those of his wife and their biological children, and those of both. This package would be cut out to compute the probability of paternity with extremely polymorphic loci with gentle user interface. Calculation time is satisfactorily short, although it requires considerably large disk space in some extremely complicated cases. Japanese version of this package is freely available at anonymous FTP site of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University School of Medicine.

Female↗
PubMed2007

Evaluation of a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of Chagas antibody in US blood donors.

BACKGROUND: Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, represents a serious blood safety problem due to increasing immigration from Latin America. The Food and Drug Administration recently recommended implementation of Chagas antibody screening for US donors as soon as a suitable assay is licensed. An anonymized preclinical study of a prototype T. cruzi lysate-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) developed by Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics was conducted. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Two populations of specimens were evaluated: 1) 10,192 sequential donations from blood donors residing in the El Paso, Texas, area and 2) 178 specimens from South America which were presumptively positive for antibodies to T. cruzi and purchased from commercial vendors. RESULTS: A total of 10,189 (99.97%) of the 10,192 screened donor specimens did not react, whereas 3 (0.03%) tested initially reactive. The 3 initially reactive specimens tested repeat reactive and were confirmed by radioimmunoprecipitation analysis (RIPA). Based on antibody profile analysis, 2 of the 3 Chagas-positive specimens were from the same donor. Observed specificity of the test was therefore 100 percent. Of the specimens from South America, 173 of 178 were reactive by the prototype ELISA. Of the 5 nonreactive specimens, all did not react by indirect fluorescence assay, but 4 were positive by RIPA. Therefore, calculated sensitivity of the ELISA was 97.7 percent (173/177). CONCLUSIONS: These studies indicate that the prototype ELISA has excellent sensitivity and specificity for detection of antibodies to T. cruzi in donors. Moreover, among donations from a geographically selected collection region of the United States, observed seroprevalence was 0.03 percent.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Poor hepatitis B vaccine coverage in injecting drug users: England, 1995 and 1996.

Self-reported data on vaccination status collected in 1995 and 1996 from seven of the 39 drug agencies in England that took part in the unlinked anonymous HIV prevalence monitoring programme of injecting drug users were analysed to estimate hepatitis B vaccine coverage in this population. Twenty-seven per cent (374/1366) of injecting drug users (IDUs) reported vaccination against hepatitis B and 13% (172) reported having received three doses of vaccine. Eighteen per cent of the IDUs who reported vaccination (66/374) were found to have a marker in their saliva of past/current hepatitis B infection (antibody to hepatitis B core (anti-HBc)) compared with 23% (232/992) of those unvaccinated. Over half (760/1366) of all IDUs tested reported not having been vaccinated against hepatitis B were negative for anti-HBc, and therefore remained susceptible to infection. Targeted vaccination for IDUs against hepatitis B in England has had little success so far, suggesting that enhanced or alternative strategies need to be adopted.

Adolescent↗